Apple Unveils the New iPad — What Will It Do?

While Wednesday’s roll-out of the new generation of Apple’s iPad didn’t have quite the fanfare of prior events helmed by the company’s late co-founder, Steve Jobs, that doesn’t mean people weren’t paying attention.

The device, simply called “the new iPad,” will be released March 16 (pre-orders are going on now) with a starting price of $499. It boasts a sharper 9.7-inch screen with Apple’s retina display technology and 2,048-by-1,536 pixels — more pixels than traditional high-definition televisions — plus an upgraded camera and a faster processor.

The next iPad also has personal hotspot software allowing the device to share a high-speed network with up to five devices (carrier permitting, of course), and, like the most recent iteration of the iPhone, it features voice dictation technology.

All that extra mojo means the upgraded iPad is a bit thicker and heavier than previous models — but not by much. It’s now 0.37 inches thick (compared to 0.34 inches) and weighs 1.4 pounds (up from 1.33 pounds).

The new iPad can also access 4G, or LTE, mobile networks, with AT&T and Verizon Wireless set to be the first US wireless carriers to sell the device.

During Wednesday’s event, Apple CEO Tim Cook also unveiled an updated version of the company’s TV set-top box, which has a new user interface and what Cook deemed a “mirroring function” that will allow users to send video from their mobile devices to their televisions. The new Apple TV, which also goes on sale March 16, will cost $99.